Graham Capital Management L.P. Grows Stock Position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Graham Capital Management L.P. lifted its stake in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 405.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 34,079 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 27,336 shares during the period. Graham Capital Management L.P.’s holdings in Centene were worth $2,065,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Centene in the fourth quarter valued at $1,536,167,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Centene by 21.7% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,555,456 shares of the company’s stock valued at $639,450,000 after buying an additional 1,884,358 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Centene by 42.8% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 7,742,698 shares of the company’s stock valued at $469,053,000 after buying an additional 2,319,952 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in Centene by 32.3% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,469,062 shares of the company’s stock valued at $391,854,000 after buying an additional 1,578,917 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Centene by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,294,816 shares of the company’s stock valued at $320,760,000 after buying an additional 443,121 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Centene Stock Performance

Shares of CNC stock opened at $62.82 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.26 billion, a PE ratio of 10.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.48. Centene Co. has a 52-week low of $55.03 and a 52-week high of $80.59. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $60.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $60.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.38. Centene had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 2.03%. The firm had revenue of $46.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $43.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.26 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Centene Co. will post 6.86 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CNC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Centene from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. StockNews.com cut Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Argus downgraded Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Centene from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Centene has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $79.77.

Centene Company Profile

Centene Corporation operates as a healthcare enterprise that provides programs and services to under-insured and uninsured families, commercial organizations, and military families in the United States. The company operates through Medicaid, Medicare, Commercial, and Other segments. The Medicaid segment offers health plan coverage, including medicaid expansion, aged, blind, disabled, children’s health insurance program, foster care, medicare-medicaid plans, long-term services and support.